James, aka Cowboy, stands in front of his tent in a homeless camp that has appeared in Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver, B.C., July 20, 2014. Backed by First Nations Leaders from the Downtown Eastside and Coast Salish Territories, they are defying an eviction order.

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Half of Metro Vancouver’s homeless people have lived in the same area for 10 years or more, an indication that while they don’t have a physical space of their own, they still have strong ties to the community.

The Metro Vancouver homeless count, which included a 24-hour survey in March this year, found 51 per cent of the 2,777 respondents had lived in the same area where they were interviewed for a decade or more, while 79 per cent had been in a particular area for at least a year. Underlying the trend was the finding that more than 200 of those interviewed said they had lived in the area their whole lives, while others had moved to the community at a young age.

Only two per cent had moved to the municipality within a week before the homeless count was conducted.

“We often think homeless people are more transient than they are,” said Sandy Burpee, spokesman for the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness, which conducted the count. “But like people like ourselves, they feel like they’re home ... they get familiar with their surroundings and what services are there.”

A person was considered homeless who did not have a place to stay for more than 30 days and did not pay rent. The homeless count, which occurs every three years, is conducted by volunteers who attempt to calculate the minimum number of the region’s homeless over a 24-hour period. These include people living in shelters, on the streets or couch-surfing, women fleeing violence and those with no fixed address who may be staying temporarily in jails, hospitals or detox centres. Some 88 children accompanied by a parent were identified as homeless in the 2014 count.

Burpee said it was surprising to discover that many of the homeless had grown up in their communities, noting people tend to think they come from somewhere else. He cited a situation in the Tri-Cities where many homeless people were reluctant to be bused to a winter shelter in Coquitlam because it would take them away from their neighbourhood.

Vancouver was still the main refuge for homeless people in Metro, with 65 per cent of the respondents living in the city, despite a promise by Mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver-dominated council to end homelessness by 2015. The mayor came under attack at City Hall last week when protesters and First Nations held a protest to claim Oppenheimer Park as a sanctuary for people who have been evicted from single room occupancy hotels after the gentrification of the Downtown Eastside.

According to the report, the number of people sleeping on the streets or couch surfing across Vancouver has more than tripled since 2011, with some 538 people in Vancouver — up from 154 in 2011 — identified as being homeless and having no shelter during the 24-hour homeless count.

Surrey has the second-highest total at 15 per cent.

The report found at least half of the homeless in Burnaby, Delta/White Rock, Langley, Ridge Meadows, Richmond and Surrey had moved there from other parts of Metro Vancouver. However, most of the homeless who moved to the Tri-Cities were from other parts of B.C., while Vancouver and the North Shore were a refuge for homeless people from other parts of Canada. In Vancouver, 56 per cent of the respondents who had lived in the city for less than one year were from another part of Canada.

Men represented 73 per cent of the homeless population in 2014 but the report noted women tended to be more represented in the “hidden” homeless population, often doubling up with families and friends or staying in unsafe situations rather than on the street, and were likely undercounted.

Burpee said he was most worried by the findings that one one-third of those interviewed were aboriginal and three-quarters had health conditions. “Obviously homelessness is hazardous to your health,” he said.

About 317 people were turned away from a shelter the night of the count because it was full.

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